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Google is a decade old. This may be longer than you remember; for many people, the company's watershed event was its IPO a little over four years ago at the seemingly expensive price of $85/share, in a dutch auction process.
The company now unquestionably dominates its original business of search, with a 60% share of the market according to Nielsen Online. That's more than its next three competitors combined, i.e. Yahoo + MSN + AOL. Although Google hasn't found the same success in other lines of business, some surveys crown the brand as the most powerful in the world.
In today's world with pressure on short-term results, ten years seems like an eternity. But remarkably, the public face of Google - its home page - has changed very little over time. However, if you've ever been responsible for SEM/SEO, you know that Google's algorithm has changed quite a bit. My takeaway as a marketer: consistency + adaptability. Seems to border on paradox, but the two work well together.
What lessons do you take away from Google's ten years? Is this just an anomaly or can non-digital businesses follow suit?

Peter has been quoted by media outlets including CNN, CNBC, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal and featured as a speaker at events including SXSW, Web 2.0 Expo, and Dachis Group Social Business Summits.

Peter was previously an analyst at Forrester Research and head of international marketing operations, e-commerce, and digital marketing at PUMA AG. He holds degrees from the Darden School at the University of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania.

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by Neil Anuskiewicz Tue Sep 9, 2008via blog

Make a much better product and they will come. Google's algorithm was clearly better. I remember the day I switched from Alta Vista to Google and never looked back.
So they got *lots* of people to switch, then they sold a lot of contextually relevant ads. It was brilliant but is it sustainable into the future?
The consistency and adaptability model will be put to the test if their ad revenue slides.

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